Former model and wellness influencer Kat Torres has been sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking and enslavement.
The sentence came after the disappearance of two young Brazilian women in September 2022, which triggered a desperate search by their families and the FBI.
The women were last known to be living with Torres, who promised them a life of wellness and success.
Click and listen the full story of Kat Torres below:
So, how did she go from partying with Leonardo Di Caprio to being charged with serious crimes?
On today’s The Briefing episode, Helen Smith joined Bension Siebert to take us through the stories of some of the most prominent stars who fell foul of the law, and the series of allegations being made about Torres.
“She had over two million Instagram followers, and back in 2017. This was a lot of Instagram followers for someone who wasn’t a Kardashian,” Smith said.
BBC has also conducted a massive investigation on Torrest, interviewing women who had fallen victim to Torres’ coercion.
Anna, one of the victims, found herself in a vulnerable situation after being Torres’s live-in assistant.
She told BBC that she quickly released Torres did not match the curated perfection projected on her Instagram.
“I felt like, ‘I’m stuck here, I don’t have a way out,'” Anna told BBC.
“I was probably one of her first victims of human trafficking.”
Smith said that people have alleged that her actions were similar to a “cult leader.”
“(All the actions) including witchcraft, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, missing women, being at the centre of some of the allegations and also slavery.”
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